Story and photos by Stephen StandifirdManaging editor
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After nearly nine years in the Marine Corps, Wayne King ended his enlistment with the intent to use Veterans Administration benefits to attend flight school.

When Sean Henninger left the Army, he joined the ranks of private contracting companies for overseas operations.

Soldiers in training with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment, use teamwork to navigate an obstacle on the confidence course.

Both King and Henninger didn’t find exactly what they were looking for out of life after the military. That’s why both signed up for another attempt at the military as part of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment.

The 32 prior-service trainees of Co. A. are going through a modified basic training cycle as part of the Army’s Fiscal Year 2017 End Strength Increase.

The cycle, a 6-week course, still requires the trainees to pass the same general requirements as the regular BCT companies, just in an abbreviated timeline based on their having prior experience with the military, said Capt. Dustin Dobbins, operations officer at 2nd Bn., 10th Inf. Reg. All prior service Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, as well as Soldiers and Marines with more than a three-year break in service, are required to attend this course.

Dobbins added their battalion is the only one in the Army conducting this training.

Sgt. Wayne King navigates the slide-for-life obstacle on the confidence course.

Sgt. 1st Class Gabriel Heglie, Co. A senior drill sergeant, said this course is “night and day different” than the regular BCT cycles because of the reduced number of trainees and the focus is more on leadership.

“(We are) focusing more on leadership than the basic tasks because all of these Soldiers have been in the military and a lot of them have been in leadership positions,” he said.

As an infantry noncommissioned officer before getting out of the Army in 2012, Henninger is more focused on what being back in the military can do for him and his Family. He said his goal is to complete his follow-on training as a combat medic, apply for flight medic school and eventually commission as an Army nurse.

“I didn’t have the same goals when I was a 19-year-old kid in the Army,” he said. “Now, I’m trying to set up a career to set myself and my Family up for the long run.”

King tells a similar story. While he was able to use his benefits to complete helicopter pilot training, King is now just waiting to complete a warrant officer flight training package, which is something he couldn’t have done during his first enlistment.

“This is definitely a career mindset,” King said. “I have a Family to support.”

Soldiers in training with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment, navigate an obstacle on the confidence course.

Pfc. Michael Williams, a former Navy logistics specialist, said the civilian life wasn’t what he expected when he first got out of the military in 2014. After working multiple jobs, he found himself unemployed and needing a job.

“I feel like this is one of the best ways to guarantee I will have a career,” he said.

Williams added, the transition from the Navy to the Army was not what he expected.

“Even though I am physically fit, this is tough for me,” he said. “(This is) way harder than Navy boot camp.”

Heglie said this group of Soldiers has proven they want to be here by giving it their all every single day.

“I think all of them are future leaders in the Army,” he said.

To date, Fort Leonard Wood has received 94 Soldiers for the Prior Service Basic Combat Training, according to Lt. Col. Seth Graves, 43rd Adjutant General Battalion (Reception) commander.

Thirty-two of them will graduate with Company A at 9 a.m. Friday in Baker Theater.